[GeoStL] Re: PDA
- From: "merkin" <merkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 09:06:40 -0700
-
The Palm battery is good for about 4 hours if I've got a good charge on it.
I'm yet to go on a cache (or even two at a time) where I'm away from the
vehicle for that long - and when you figure you're turning off the GPS for most
of the hike back, it hasn't been a problem. The GPSr takes its own batteries,
but 2 AAAs keep it running for 12 hours. It doesn't drain the batteries at all
if you're plugged into the truck. A pair of batteries in the GPS will last me
about 3 months. I have been using Palms now since the first one came out (I
was working for Franklin Covey at the time) so all my shirts have pockets - I
haven't had a problem with ruggedness or water, yet, but I don't rule it out as
being an issue. With a five-year-old in tow, we have generally limited our
geocaching to "nice" days.
As with anything, there are pros and cons, but this system has worked very,
very well for us. There are certainly better ways out there, and I'm open to
learning about them.
merkin4
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Jim Bensman" <jbensman1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 09:46:56 -0600
>-
>I thought about getting a PDA GPS (the Garmin one). But my concerns were
>ruggedness and waterproof. They would seem to be great in the car, but I
>want something waterproof and more rugged to take out in the woods. I would
>not want to be out in the rain with a PDA GPS or going up and down steep
>hills with a PDA out. Is not there also a very serious problem with battery
>life if you take it on a long cache? Have you dealt with any of these
>issues?
>
>My paperless set up is a laptop (which is far superior to any PDA for car
>navigation (other then it is harder to hide and secure form crooks), PDA
>(Sony PEG TG50) and GPS (Garmin Vista and to be upgraded to the new one as
>soon as I can get one).
>
>There are sometimes problems with the paperless system though. When you
>have to calculate things, lots of times it is much easier if you print it
>out. But you always need to carry paper and pencil. Sometimes there is a
>picture on the page that you need that will not transfer to your PDA or even
>your laptop.
>
>Once in the field with my PDA, I have a good system worked out. I use
>Plucker and the note applet (which synchronies with Outlook). To make
>things much easier, I have Plucker assigned to a hardware button. That
>allows me to switch back and forth between Notepad and Plucker with a press
>of a button. My PDA has a keyboard and supports shortcuts for Plucker.
>Once I find the cache, I cut the cache name and number and then paste it
>into notepad and place any comments I have. Then when I get home I can cut
>and paste the GC number to log the cache and I have a good record of which
>ones I found.
>
>
>Jim Bensman
>"Nature Bats Last"
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: geocaching-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:geocaching-
>> bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of merkin
>> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 8:44 AM
>> To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: [GeoStL] Re: PDA
>>
>> -
>>
>> All I can tell you about is my experience, but I am paperless and all in
>> one unit now.
>>
>> I've got a Palm m515 with a Magellan Companion GPSr that snaps onto the
>> back of the Palm Pilot. The GPSr came with full US maps on 4 CDROMs, so I
>> can load full-color road maps onto the Palm and have turn-by-turn
>> directions displayed as I drive. (I also got a windshield mount and
>> cigarette lighter adapter for it, so I can have it on all the time when
>> I'm on a trip. The lighter also re-charges the Palm batteries, so I don't
>> have to take a charger with me when I travel.)
>>
>> The CDs came with two software programs for the Palm. The first is the
>> full-color map utility. I can store several maps at one time on the Palm.
>> A 50 mile by 50 mile block of St. Louis takes up 4,619 K of memory. But,
>> that includes all street addresses to within half a block, all the stores,
>> eating establishments, airports, bars, and tourist attractions. The map
>> also zooms out if I'm doing 70-something on the interstate, and zooms in
>> if I'm doing 15 mph in my neighborhood. I can also load point-by-point
>> directional maps, and it gives me audible beeps to alert me to upcoming
>> turns. I can set the beeps to occur 10-60 seconds ahead of the turn.
>> These maps take up much less room than my wide-are StL map - directions
>> from here to Rochester, Minnesota took up 114K of memory. My only beef is
>> that if the maps are loaded to the SD memory card, they refresh so slowly
>> that I'm off the page before the maps appear. The maps MUST be held in
>> main memory to be useful, but they can
>> be stored on the card (so if I'm in California, I'll move the St. Louis
>> map to the card).
>>
>> The second program for the Palm is much more like a basic GPS unit. I can
>> set waypoints, enter destinations in DD MM.MMM format, and get a "plot"
>> screen showing distance and direction to the cache. Accuracy is within
>> 3.3 meters, and there's a utility to see how many birds I've got a lock on
>> and how strong the signal is.
>>
>> The last program I've got on here is called Cachemate. It was $6 on-line,
>> and it coverts GPX files from Geocache.com into the Cachemate database. I
>> have the 500 caches closest to my house, and 500 locationless caches sent
>> to me every Friday. I convert them on the PC and load them to the Palm.
>> But, it gives me the descriptions, the coordinates, the last 5 logs, the
>> hints, and a page on each cache to record my own log notes. The best
>> feature, IMHO, is one where you can re-sort the entire list based on
>> distance from either a cache or from your current location if you are
>> plugged into the GPS. We placed two caches this weekend, and I used this
>> feature in the park to verify that the closest cache was 0.3 miles away.
>> I can't speak highly enough of this program. I tried using the iSilo from
>> geocaching.com and found it very difficult to use. I've since deleted it
>> from the Palm and just use the Cachemate program.
>>
>> Between Cachemate and the GPS-supplied software, I'm paperless and have
>> everything in one unit. If Cachemate had the ability to show a plot of
>> current position vs. the cache, with distance and bearing, it would be
>> perfection incarnate. But, being able to sort caches based on current
>> position is pretty darn cool too.
>>
>> Just my thoughts. I realize the Palm PC vs Palm Pilot camp is about as
>> divided as Mac vs PC or Irish Protestant vs Irish Catholic, but this is
>> what fills my needs. Palm m515s can be found on ebay or half.com for as
>> low as $150. The GPS unit can also be found on ebay for $80-$100 or less.
>> That puts a complete paperless system with color maps in your mailbox for
>> around $250.
>>
>> merkin4
>>
>>
>>
>>
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